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Kirkman Addresses Changes To The Walking Dead Writing Staff

The Walking Dead executive producer Robert Kirkman calls Wednesday's report of a writer purge at the AMC drama "unfortunate," and says it's too early to know who will work on Season 2.

The story, which originated with Deadline, said that executive producer Frank Darabont had let go of his entire writing staff, including executive producer Charles "Chic" Eglee, and might instead assign scripts to freelancers for the second season. AMC would only confirm "that there will be changes to the writing staff."

However, Kirkman tells TVGuide.com, "It's kind of unfortunate that it's being reported that our writing staff has been fired because that's not the case. It makes Frank look bad. I don't think Frank wants it out there that he's just firing people off of a successful show seemingly for no reason."

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He says it's "a little premature" to know whether the series will utilize a writing staff or freelancers for next season.

Kirkman also clarifies that Eglee, a Hollywood veteran who's written for such TV series as Murder One, The Shield and Dexter, chose to leave The Walking Dead only because Darabont decided to stay on as showrunner. The original expectation had been that Darabont would return to movies after the first season, leaving Eglee in charge. "Chic didn't want to be second-in-command on a show when he's used to being a top dog," he says, "and so he decided to go off and do something else, which is something that happens and is not a big deal."

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The Walking Dead concludes its first season Sunday at 10 p.m. EST/PST with "TS-19."